FOAM (FOAM)

Overview

FOAM is building a Spatial Protocol for the Ethereum blockchain with Proof of Location.

Project stage

Beta version

Detailed description

FOAM is an open protocol for decentralized, geospatial data markets. The protocol is designed to empower users to build a consensus-driven map of the world that can be trusted for every application. As technology evolves and changes, maps need to change too. FOAM secures physical space on the blockchain, harnessing the power of Ethereum with a cryptographic software utility token used to provide computational work and verification to the network.

The component elements of the FOAM protocol are designed to provide spatial protocols, standards and applications that bring geospatial data to blockchains and empower a consensus-driven map of the world. Token mechanisms and cryptoeconomics underpin the elements of FOAM and empower the distributed users to coordinate and interact in a decentralized and permissionless fashion.

Problem

Location EncodingCurrently, there are no established standards for embedded locations, physical addresses, or coordinates in smart contracts. Further, there is no open way to verify geospatial data. For smart contracts to remain interoperable, they need a shared language for them to reference and index the physical world. Additionally, location standards today are an unsolved problem.

Throughout history, there have been many ways of encoding physical locations into addresses — from longitude and latitude all the way to the more recent geohash. While autonomous car companies are racing for more accurate location data, the fact remains that most of the Earth’s surface lacks an address. According to the United Nations, 70% of the world is unaddressed, including more than half of the world’s sprawling urban developments.

User ExperienceSimilar to a need for a location encoding standard, there also needs to be able to interact, visualize and reason about the data with an advanced user experience. Examples of such interfaces exist for centralized geospatial data sets, which are not compatible with open blockchain infrastructure. Additionally, there are no open user experience standards for visualizing geospatial data from a blockchain.

Location VerificationCurrently there is no reliable and trusted location verification service. It is problematic to rely on GPS and it is not a viable tool when a smart contract needs to execute autonomously on spatial information. A backup for GPS is needed because it can be easily spoofed, jammed, or falsified. This means that there is currently no truly secure way to verify location in blockchain-based smart contracts or decentralized applications.

Solution

The FOAM Crypto-Spatial Coordinate (CSC) is a starting point for this shared location standard, allowing any smart contract to make an immutable claim to an address on the blockchain and a corresponding location on the map. Crypto-Spatial Coordinates are Ethereum smart contract addresses with corresponding addresses positioned in physical space that are verifiable both on- and off-chain.

This allows for physical addresses in the built environment to have a corresponding smart contract address that is accessible for decentralized applications. The protocol uses the geohash standard as a basis for this construction because of its conceptual and mathematical simplicity. Another benefit of the geohash standard is that it is in the public domain.

The CSC standard can be adopted by any smart contract to make a claim to, or reference, a location in the physical environment. If adopted across projects and use cases, the CSC allows smart contract transaction activities to take on a spatial dimension. The CSC can act as a reference point for spatial events that works for any kind of transaction on Ethereum or other Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible blockchain.

Since geohashes are intrinsically hierarchical, it also means that a contract referencing a building, and a contract referencing an IoT device located within that building, automatically have a spatial relationship.

Additional links

Token details

Token symbol
? Token symbol — a shorten token name. It is used during an ICO and after the coin listing at the cryptocurrency exchanges. :FOAM

Fundrasing target ? Fundraising target — the maximum amount of funds to be raised during an ICO. When it is reached, the developers stop selling the tokens because they do not need to raise more money for the project development. : 24,000,000 USD

Token type ? Token type — a platform for a startup launch that influences the stability of blockchain operation, the speed of transactions and the fees. :Ethereum (ERC20)

Soft cap ? Soft cap — the minimum amount of funds to be raised for the project development. Sometimes when the soft cap has not been reached, the money is returned to the participants. : NA

Role of token ? Role of Token — type of token depending on the opportunities it offers to its owner. Utility tokens give their owners a right to use the project services, security tokens are aimed at bringing profit, and currency tokens are a money substitute. :Utility token

Total supply ? Total supply — a total amount of tokens that will be released by the developers. :1,000,000,000 FOAM

Escrow agent ? Escrow agent — a qualified agent who has the right of signature in a multisig wallet. An escrow agent participates in an ICO, monitors the financial operations of the developers and confirms their fairness. :No

Tokens for sale ? Tokens for sale — the number of tokens offered to the participants of an ICO. :NA

Whitelist ? Whitelist — a list of participants, who get an opportunity to buy tokens. To be whitelisted, you need to register on time because the number of participants and the registration period are usually limited. :Whitelist Open

Additional emission ? Additional emission — an additional release of tokens. It can be done once after the crowd sale or on an ongoing basis. In the projects with a limited emission there is no additional emission. :No

Exchange listing ? Exchange listing — an assumed date when the token will be listed at a cryptocurrency exchange. The developers usually indicate it in a roadmap and a white paper. :NA

Accepting currencies ? Accepting currencies — cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies that can be used for buying the project tokens. :NA

Can't participate ? Can't participate — the countries where it is prohibited to buy tokens. These can be countries where ICOs are prohibited altogether, or countries that have the requirements that a particular project does not meet. :China, Iran, North Korea, USA,

Know Your Customer (KYC) ? Know Your Customer — a verification procedure for ICO participants, during which the developers can ask for personal data, a photo and a scanned copy of a passport of a potential investor. :Yes

Advisors

Roadmap

First release of our vision for a spatial protocol and consensus driven map.

Nov 2017

Crypto-Spatial Coordinates

Release of Crypto-Spatial Coordinates, an open and interoperable standard for location in Ethereum smart contracts.

Jan 2018

Introduction To Proof Of Location

We started off 2018 by formally announcing the work being done at FOAM on Proof of Location and its fundamental importance.

Feb 2018

Spatial Index Private Beta

Launched a private beta on the Rinkeby test network for The Spatial Index, a general purpose visual blockchain explorer.

Apr 2018

Launched Developer Portal

As part of our developer community efforts, we released access to tools for building decentralized spatial applications, API access, sample tutorials and walkthroughs.

Apr 2018

Spatial Index Public Beta

Opened the Spatial Index Beta to the public with over 2,500 users stress testing the architecture.

May 2018

Whitepaper Release

After months of fine-tuning and legal review, we were extremely excited and proud to publish our product whitepaper.

31 Aug 2018

Main Net Launch

Tokens are distributed to all purchasers on the Ethereum MainNet.

1 Sep - 15 Oct 2018

Transfer Restriction Period

Following the launch of the FOAM protocol tokens will not be transferable outside of the platform for 45 days. In this time users can familiarize themselves with the interface and fulfill their ‘Proof of Use’ requirements.

Activity

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